1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for preparing a gathered nonwoven fabric and the novel product made thereby. More particularly, the invention concerns such a process in which a gathered fibrous layer is rendered dimensionally stable and wash durable by over-stitching the gathered fibrous layer with inelastic yarn. The resultant fabric is particularly useful for toweling, upholstery, insulation, fire-resisting layers and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Processes are known wherein a nonwoven fibrous layer is buckled, shirred, gathered or puckered (all of which terms are referred to hereinafter as "gathered"), so that the final area of the gathered nonwoven fibrous layer is much smaller than the original area of the layer. Such processes are disclosed, for example, by Bassett U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,748, Hansen U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,782, Wideman U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,964, and Zafiroglu U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,238. The contraction can cause the nonwoven fibrous layer to buckle out of plane and form series of waves or protuberances that project from the plane of the layer. Although the known gathered fabrics are useful in some applications, the fabrics often have shortcomings, such as being excessively stretchable, too easily compressible, insufficiently bulky and/or lacking in resilience, which make the fabrics unsatisfactory for use in materials that require high absorbency, high thermal insulating value, strong fire resistance, or the like. Accordingly, an aim of this invention is to provide a process for preparing a gathered nonwoven fabric in which the aforementioned shortcomings are ameliorated.